A Systematic Review of the Possible Outcomes of Brand Activism on Companies

Increasingly, companies are taking an active role in current debates on socio-political issues by positioning themselves with statements or actions. Consumers’ demand for this phenomenon called Brand Activism is rising. At the same time, stakeholders’ reactions to Brand Activism are difficult to predict, so that the participation for brands remains risky. The research on Brand Activism is nascent, and the constantly growing amount of findings on different aspects leave the literature field fragmented. The purpose of this work therefore is to summarize the knowledge that has been generated so far on the possible outcomes of Brand Activism for brands and its stakeholders. A systematic literature review covered 33 relevant papers. It was found that internal implementation and communication, as well as stakeholder’s characteristics shape the reactions to Brand Activism. A framework conceptualizes the opportunities for brands to reduce the risks of Brand Activism, by optimizing their internal factors to convey authenticity and by considering stakeholders’ values. This paper contributes to literature by providing a conceptualization of the process which was missing until now.